The Anna Freud Centre, a national charity dedicated to providing training and support for child mental health services,will use information taken from the survey to create a free Staff Well-being resource, which will be shared through the Anna Freud Centre’s Early Years in Mind network.
The resource will offer new guidance and information on how to promote good mental health in early years settings.
The anonymous survey, which takes 10 minutes to complete, will enable staff to provide information on any well-being initiatives that have worked well for them in their settings, and also to put forward suggestions of any other ideas and initiatives that they would like to see more of.
They will also be able to volunteer information about the kinds of work-related issues that affect their well-being on a general basis.
Dr Camilla Rosan, head of early years programme said, ‘We think there’s a real need for this resource. The early years are among the most important in a child’s life, yet people working with the under fives can often have their mental health needs overlooked. This can have an impact their morale, and this in turn has an impact on the young children they work with. To put it simply, if we don’t look after our staff, we can’t expect to do the best for our young children.’
A number of local authorities including Hackney, Salford, Bury and Tameside have offered to collaborate with the centre and support the creation of the resource.
Dr Rachel Lyons of Salford City Council said, ‘We think this is a hugely important piece of work and I believe the resource can have a real impact on all staff working with early years children. It’s great to be working closely with the Anna Freud Centre and local authorities from across the country to engage and support early years staff who do such vital work.’
Click here to complete the survey
